Cutting Edge Tech That Will Make Cruising Safe Again

[prescottbob]

 

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-06-03/the-cutting-edge-technology-that-ll-make-cruising-safe-again?utm_campaign=news&utm_medium=bd&utm_source=applenews

[DFD1]

Really interesting look at many of the issues surrounding cruising in the future. The industry has an incredible challenge to find ways to make cruising desirable, pleasant and healthy in the months and years to come.

Thanks for sharing the article.

Edited June 7, 2020 by DFD1

[cbr663]

Thanks for the link.  I do agree with the comment at the end of the article that all the ideals cut to the very fabric of the cruise experience. 

 

The idea of converting cabins to hospital rooms when needed seems to indicate that the cruise lines have to plan for the fact that outbreaks will occur on ships.  I'm waiting to see how cruise lines plan to deal with being denied entry to ports when outbreaks occur.  Until cruise lines address the very real risk of floating prisons at sea, we won't be sailing.

[darstamp]

In addition to all these changes that will definitely reduce the pleasure of cruising, there is also the reports that "shorter" cruises will be offered more.   From where we live it can take us up to three days just to get to a cruise.  Why on earth would we want to go on a cruise shorter than 7 days?  or even 10 days?  I think we just won't be doing as much cruising in the future.

[iancal]

A widely available, effective, and safe vaccine will solve the challenge from our perspective.  Just do not expect all three to be widely available for quite some time.

 

Edited June 7, 2020 by iancal

[KirkNC]

3 hours ago, cbr663 said:

Thanks for the link.  I do agree with the comment at the end of the article that all the ideals cut to the very fabric of the cruise experience. 

 

The idea of converting cabins to hospital rooms when needed seems to indicate that the cruise lines have to plan for the fact that outbreaks will occur on ships.  I'm waiting to see how cruise lines plan to deal with being denied entry to ports when outbreaks occur.  Until cruise lines address the very real risk of floating prisons at sea, we won't be sailing.

How pray tell can they address that possibility to your satisfaction?

[ski ww]

If a lot of this does change some body has to pay for all this, it's not cheap. So forget price drops. 

[ontheweb]

13 minutes ago, ski ww said:

If a lot of this does change some body has to pay for all this, it's not cheap. So forget price drops. 

In the end, prices are set by supply and demand. I wonder what happens to demand when and if the cruise lines takes many of the pleasures of cruising out of the equation. They truly have a dilemma as to what to do to keep the industry viable.

[bouhunter]

19 hours ago, cbr663 said:

 Until cruise lines address the very real risk of floating prisons at sea, we won't be sailing.

That is our feeling too.  Yesterday we moved our B2B2B next winter to 2022.  Not sending any money to any cruise line for a while.   This coming winter we'll do 6 weeks in Florida and a couple weeks in St Maarten.  It will be the first time in 14 years we won't cruise in the winter and we're fine with that 🙂

 

Edited June 8, 2020 by bouhunter

[cbr663]

15 hours ago, KirkNC said:

How pray tell can they address that possibility to your satisfaction?

By eliminating the flags of convenience.  Any country that accepts a ship's registration does so on the understanding that it must allow that ship to dock and disembark cruise passengers and crew for any reason and that it must have the facilities and infrastructure to support that cruise ship.

 

Favorable tax treatment should not be the determining factor for cruise ship registration - health and safety of the people on board should be instead.

[iancal]

5 hours ago, cbr663 said:

By eliminating the flags of convenience.  Any country that accepts a ship's registration does so on the understanding that it must allow that ship to dock and disembark cruise passengers and crew for any reason and that it must have the facilities and infrastructure to support that cruise ship.

 

Favorable tax treatment should not be the determining factor for cruise ship registration - health and safety of the people on board should be instead.

Realistically this is not going to happen.

 

We believe the only solution will be a safe, widely available vaccine.  

 

We believe that peoples' confidence has been shaken.  No matter what the regulars will continue to cruise-or say they will.  The larger target market may still view cruising as a petri dish....and it is to a certain extent.  When it comes down to an RV vacation, cottage, camping in a National Park, or  a trip to Disney vs a cruise with the children I suspect for many the latter will not even be a consideration.  It would not for us if we had small children.  How many grandparents like us would even consider taking their grandchildren on a cruise without the existence of a vaccine?  We certainly would not.

 

We have had many wonderful cruises in the past to many parts of the world.  It could be for us that cruising is now in the rear view mirror.  That's fine too, there are other options that we enjoy just as more, and in some instance enjoy more.

 

Our interest in cruising has been waning over the past two or three years.  Today, we are quite ambivalent about cruising.  We find the value to us has decreased and other travel options have become as or more attractive to us.  I suspect the only solution acceptable to us is a medical one...vaccine, prescription, whatever before we even consider another cruise let alone book one.  Social distancing on a cruise and all the other measures give us zero confidence.  They do not solve the challenge for us.   Nor do we have much confidence in the cruise lines, based on their recent performance, to place our health above their corporate interests.

 

We are both just shy of 70. Why on earth would we ever risk our good health for the years that we have left simply to get on a cruise ship?   This is not to say that we are not concerned with other travel options.  We are.  But not to the same extent that we are with the closed environment of a cruise ship.

Edited June 8, 2020 by iancal

[AtlantaCruiser72]

10 hours ago, cbr663 said:

By eliminating the flags of convenience.  Any country that accepts a ship's registration does so on the understanding that it must allow that ship to dock and disembark cruise passengers and crew for any reason and that it must have the facilities and infrastructure to support that cruise ship.

 

Favorable tax treatment should not be the determining factor for cruise ship registration - health and safety of the people on board should be instead.

 

Ok - so they register a ship in the US, how does that then help when the ship repositions to sail in Asia, Australia, South America, Europe, etc?  Being US flagged would only benefit some passengers, from some ports, but be worthless elsewhere.  It would also raise the cost of doing business to a level that would make cruising unaffordable for 95% of the present cruising population.

[iancal]

There is also the insurance issue.  Medical facilities may be available but how will they be paid for?  What about repatriation or in country isolation for travelling companions?  Or the health and safety of the locals? Will there be any underwriters that will offer this business?

 

Bottom line is that cruising is a business.  If one looks at how the cruise lines have set u p their business....flags of convenience, registered corporate office locations, on board contracting out of areas where litigation could result,  ensuring that labor laws, workers comp, and pesky things like minimum wages do not apply to them, etc it is clear that these is an essential part of the business operations. 

[cbr663]

6 hours ago, iancal said:

Realistically this is not going to happen.

 

We believe the only solution will be a safe, widely available vaccine.  

 

We believe that peoples' confidence has been shaken.  No matter what the regulars will continue to cruise-or say they will.  The larger target market may still view cruising as a petri dish....and it is to a certain extent.  When it comes down to an RV vacation, cottage, camping in a National Park, or  a trip to Disney vs a cruise with the children I suspect for many the latter will not even be a consideration.  It would not for us if we had small children.  How many grandparents like us would even consider taking their grandchildren on a cruise without the existence of a vaccine?  We certainly would not.

 

....

 

No, it is not going to happen if the cruise lines have any say.

 

There is one thing though that all cruisers need to remember.  The cruise lines have never been able to wrestle noro virus to the ground.  In 2019 there were 10 reported gastro outbreaks on cruise ships.  Eleven outbreaks in 2018 and even with the very short season of 2020, there has been 4 outbreaks noted.  Remember that the CDC defines an outbreak as affecting 2% of the ship's population.  Many other ships may have had gastro outbreaks but not enough to define an outbreak.

 

Now add COVID-19 into that mix and this will get ugly for the cruise lines.  The risk is still very real for cruise lines and cruise ships.  It is going to be one heck of an environment for cruise ships to manage until a vaccine is found.